Ordination of Hierodeacon Dositheos to the Priesthood at the Patriarchate of Jerusalem
On Sunday, the 12th / 25th of May 2025, the Sunday of the Blind Man according to the sacred book of the Pentecostarion, during an all-night Divine Liturgy at the Most Holy and Life-giving Tomb, the ordination to the priesthood of Hierodeacon Dositheos took place. Until now, he has served as Secretary to the Chief Secretariat of the Patriarchate and Supervisor of the Holy Monastery of Saint George in the Jewish Quarter, and was ordained by His Eminence Archbishop Dorotheos of Avila.
Before the ordination, the ordaining Hierarch addressed the candidate for ordination, and the one to be ordained responded with the following reply:
“Your Eminence, Archbishop Dorotheos of Avila,
Reverend Fathers and Brethren in the Lord,
Pious pilgrims of the Most Holy Sepulchre,
With fear of God, faith, and love, I approach this most sacred Altar today, to receive from Your hands, Your Eminence, the great gift of the Priesthood — a grace not of man, but heavenly; not by any worthiness of mine, the least of all, but by the mercy and loving-kindness of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In humility and with a contrite heart, I stand before the Life-giving Tomb, the Sepulchre of the Living One, of the Crucified and Risen Lord — whose Most Holy Blood was shed for the salvation of the world. In this Holy Place, the Priesthood bears a particular weight and content; it becomes a martyr’s ministry, an offering on behalf of the people of God.
This present Sunday, the Sunday of the Blind Man, bestows upon my soul a spiritual consciousness: like the man born blind, I too walked in darkness, until the Light of Christ shone in my heart. And now, by the grace of God, I am called not only to see but also to guide others towards the True Light.
From the depths of my heart, I give thanks unto God, who deemed me worthy to be raised within this venerable Brotherhood, within the Ark of Orthodoxy in Zion, where unceasing prayer is offered up, and the light of Truth burns inextinguishably over the Holy Shrines.
Great is the responsibility of the shepherd, who ministers before the Throne of God and proclaims the Gospel message in the midst of the people. In humble gratitude, I turn my heart toward You, Your Eminence, offering thanks for this honour bestowed upon me, and upon our Brotherhood of the Holy Sepulchre, for Your love and support.
I humbly entreat also you, devout pilgrims, for your prayers — that the Lord may strengthen me, instruct me, and humble me, so that the whole of my ministry may not be mine, but Christ’s.
I invoke the grace of the All-Holy Spirit, that the cross of the Priesthood laid upon me may become a fountain of joy and salvation for the people of God; and that I may become “a good shepherd, and not a hireling,” “a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,” a reverent, God-loving, and philanthropic priest.
Unto God be glory unto the ages. Amen.”
Those who honoured him—the Fathers of the Holy Sepulchre and others, among whom was also his mother—acclaimed the one ordained with the cry of “Axios!”
After the Dismissal of the Divine Liturgy, the newly ordained received those who had honoured him in the Office of the Elder Sacristan, His Eminence Archbishop Isidoros of Hierapolis.
In the morning, the ordained priest received the blessing of His Beatitude in the Throne Room, and he is appointed to serve as the Hegumen of the Holy Monastery of the Prophet Elisha in Jericho.
From the Chief Secretariat
Source: Patriarchate of Jerusalem
